Mostly About Organized Crime

10/16/2016

Vincenzo Spagnolo, a close confidant of recently-deceased mob boss Vito Rizzuto, has been gunned down at his Laval home which is a suburb north of Montreal as reported by The Gazette.

Mob watchers suspect that the 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia has backed a breakaway group from the Rizzuto clan of Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia for control over the drug rackets in Montreal and New York, and the turf war has resulted in dozens of murders over the last few years.

Vito Rizzuto, an oft-described "drug trafficking mastermind," died in 2013 from lung cancer. The mob boss was released from a U.S. prison in 2012 after serving several years on a racketeering conviction involving the 1981 murders of three Bonanno capos in New York City, and while he was doing time the mob rebellion claimed his son Nick Jr. in 2009 and family patriarch Nicolo in 2010.

Police suspect the Rizzuto rebellion was led by Raynald Desjardins. Last year Desjardins pleaded guilty for his role in the November 2011 slaying of ex-Bonanno boss Salvatore "Sal the Ironworker" Montagna who police suspect had allied himself with the breakaway group until the relationship soured, and is scheduled for sentencing on December 19 as reported by The Gazette.

07/07/2015

One-time Rizzuto mobster Raynald Desjardins has pleaded guilty to the 2011 murder of former Bonanno boss Salvatore Montagna as reported by Paul Cherry for The Montreal Gazette. Desjardins led an insurgency backed by the 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia for control over the Montreal underworld -- basically the drug trade -- while Sicilian boss Vito Rizzuto was imprisoned, and Montagna was allied with Desjardin's breakaway group until the relationship soured. Several hoodlums were killed during the pissing match between the two factions including Rizzuto's son Nick Jr. in 2009 and family patriarch Nicolo in 2010. Such is the life.

12/18/2014

Daniele Ranieri allegedly took over a Mafia crew in York, Ontario after its prior boss Juan Fernandez and his associate Fernando Pimental were murdered last year in a planned ambush outside Palermo, Sicily, and now Canadian police are seeking Ranieri who "left for a routine trip to Cuba two weeks ago" as reported by Maryam Shah for the Toronto Sun:

The wanted man has a criminal past involving drugs, weapons, threats, assaults, and forcible confinement. He already has two prison stints under his belt and is now wanted for extortion and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Mob watchers suspect that the 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia has backed a breakaway group from the Rizzuto clan of Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia for control over the drug rackets in Montreal and New York, and the turf war has resulted in dozens of murders over the last few years.

Vito Rizzuto, an oft-described "drug trafficking mastermind," died last year from lung cancer. The mob boss was released from a U.S. prison in 2012 after serving several years on a racketeering conviction involving the 1981 murders of three Bonanno capos in New York City, and while he was doing time the mob rebellion claimed his son Nick Jr. in 2009 and family patriarch Nicolo in 2010.

Police suspect the Rizzuto rebellion was led by Raynald Desjardins. Desjardins currently is in prison awaiting trial for his alleged role in the November 2011 slaying of ex-Bonanno boss Salvatore "Sal the Ironworker" Montagna who police suspect had allied himself with the breakaway group until the relationship soured.

Earlier this year Italian and American police arrested dozens of suspected mobsters on both sides of the Atlantic for their alleged roles in a joint drug smuggling plot between the Gambino family and the Calabrian Mafia.

12/02/2014

Will the bloodshed among rival factions within the Montreal Mafia ever end?

Tonino Callocchia, a convicted drug trafficker and money launderer who joined a rebel group to dethrone queen bee Vito Rizzuto, was gunned down yesterday afternoon in a Rivière-des-Prairies restaurant as reported by Paul Cherry for the Montreal Gazette: "'He was a big player (within the Mafia). That is certain,' said one police source on Monday."

Mob watchers suspect that the 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia has backed a breakaway group from the Rizzuto clan of the Sicilian Mafia for control over the drug rackets in Montreal and New York, and the turf war has resulted in dozens of murders over the last few years.

Vito Rizzuto, an oft-described "drug trafficking mastermind," died last year from lung cancer. The mob boss was released from a U.S. prison in 2012 after serving several years on a racketeering conviction involving the 1981 murders of three Bonanno capos in New York City, and while he was doing time the mob rebellion claimed his son Nick Jr. in 2009 and family patriarch Nicolo in 2010.

Police suspect the Rizzuto rebellion was led by Raynald Desjardins. Desjardins currently is in prison awaiting trial for his alleged role in the November 2011 slaying of ex-Bonanno boss Salvatore "Sal the Ironworker" Montagna who police suspect had allied himself with the breakaway group until the relationship soured.

Earlier this year Italian and American police arrested dozens of suspected mobsters on both sides of the Atlantic for their alleged roles in a joint drug smuggling plot between the Gambino family and the Calabrian Mafia.